All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab

Summary:

Carly: She was sweet. Smart. Self-destructive. She knew the secrets of Brighton Day School’s most privileged students. Secrets that got her killed.

Neily: Dumped by Carly for a notorious bad boy, Neily didn’t answer the phone call she made before she died. If he had, maybe he could have helped her. Now he can’t get the image of her lifeless body out of his mind.

Audrey: She’s the reason Carly got tangled up with Brighton’s fast crowd in the first place, and now she regrets it—especially since she’s convinced the police have put the wrong person in jail. Audrey thinks the murderer is someone at Brighton, and she wants Neily to help her find out who it is.

As reluctant allies Neily and Audrey dig into their shared past with Carly, her involvement with Brighton’s dark goings-on comes to light. But figuring out how Carly and her killer fit into the twisted drama will force Audrey and Neily to face hard truths about themselves and the girl they couldn’t save.

Anna’s Thoughts:

Between all of the books that I read last year, and the ones I’ve read so far this year All Unquiet Things was like a breath of fresh air right off the coast. This book really epitomizes everything that I enjoy in my favourite types of books, fun, fast-paced (at times), full of mystery with characters that you actually like. The only thing that threw me off of it was the beginning, the first part which was mainly about Neily and his past with Carly was a little slow, I kept reading because I knew that dude, there’s a dead person in here somewhere, but it definitely took a bit of effort. I however, never wanted to put the book down either, it wasn’t boring, it wasn’t repetitive (although Neily was a little emo for my liking, but then again I probably would be if my boyfriend/girlfriend had been killed too) it was just a little slow.

The plot for the most part was solid, it led you around in circles but in a good way. I swear I thought I knew who the ‘bad guy’ was about a hundred times before it finally clicked in my head, and the pieces fit together. You don’t really expect who the real ‘bad guy’ is until about half way through the book when you get to know Audrey a little more and the people that her and Carly hung around with, and even then there are about a thousand sketchy people that could fit the role. The ending was refreshing, it wasn’t a pre-packaged ‘everything is okay and the world is perfect’ ending. It was a little brutal, but then really sweet but not in the way I think some people might expect.

The characters are also very believable and very far from being perfect in the sense that they all have flaws, and sometimes unwavering and unforgivable ones. You get to know them all fairly well, but the odd thing I think a little was Carly, because yes she is the main focus of the book, but she’s dead, and we still by far get to know the most about her. I feel like I know Carly’s character and her personality like the back of my hand, and whereas we get to know Neily and Audrey as well I don’t think we do nearly as much. Which is odd considering they’re the ones the story is being told through.

Over all the story was great, a strong plot with strong believable characters, although with a slightly slow and dragged out beginning. If you get bored, or you get deterred within the first section for ‘Neily’ – press on, it’s worth it! (Not to mention, Murder Mystery in YA?! MORE PLEASE!)